Edge illuminated shelf for refrigerator cabinets



R. L. BENSON EDGE ILLUMINATED SHELF FOR REFRIGERATOR CABINETS Filed Nov. -12, 194

MO/ST COLD INVENTOR.

RALPH L BENSON.

Patented July 18, 1950 EDGE ILLUMINATED SHELF FOR REFRIGERATOR CABINETS Ralph L. Benson, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to Avco Manufacturing Corporation, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application November 12, 1948, Serial No. 59,450

This invention relates to refrigerator cabinets and more particularly to means for illuminating the interior thereof.

In the manufacture of refrigerators of the household type it has been the practice to illuminate the interior of the cabinet by means of light bulbs mounted in the rear wall of the cabinet and so positioned as to shine directly into the cabinet. A bare light bulb positioned in the food storage compartment is not attractive to the eye and is often blocked off by foodstuffs stored in the cabinet.

The present invention is designed to provide a lighting means for a refrigerator cabinet which is attractive in appearance and which is effective to illuminate different compartments within the cabinet.

It is accordingly an object of my invention to provide a novel means for illuminating the interior of a refrigerator cabinet.

Another object of my invention is to provide a refrigerator cabinet having one compartment illuminated by indirectly reflected light and another compartment constructed and arranged to be illuminated by means of edge lighting of at least one wall of said compartment.

A further object of my invention is to provide a refrigerator cabinet including a food storage compartment having at least one transparent wall and provided with an additional wall havinga window therein arranged to permit edge lighting of the transparent wall.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a refrigerator cabinet in which a shelf of the refrigerator forms one wall of a food storage compartment and in which a vertical baille having means therein forpermitting edge lighting of the shelf forms a second wall of the compartment.

Another object of my invention is to provide a refrigerator cabinet having a food storage compartment therein spaced from the rear wall of the cabinet, said compartment having one wall thereof formed by a refrigerator shelf, a baflle of tinted translucent or painted material forming another wall of said compartment, a light source positioned on the side opposite said baflie from said shelf, and a window in said baille for permitting edge lighting of said shelf.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a compartment for a refrigerator cabinet including a horizontal shelf having indicia thereon together with lighting means for edge lighting said shelf to illuminate said indicia and to 3 Claims. (Cl. 240-4) also impart a colored hue to the interior of said compartment.

These and other objects of my invention will be apparent from the following description and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator cabinet constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention with the door open;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a bafiie illustrating windows constructed and arranged to permit edge lighting of refrigerator shelfs;

Fig. 4 is a partially sectional view showing a side elevation of a modification of this invention in which a single horizontal shelf and a vertical bailie are utilized to form a compartment within the refrigerator;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a refrigerator shelf illustrating indicia etched into the shelf adjacent the forward edge of the shelf.

In its broadest aspects the invention comprises a refrigerator cabinet Ill having a liner l2 therein defining a food storage chamber divided into compartments I3 and I5 by means of a pair of horizontally disposed shelves l4 and IS. A vertical baflie I8 extends between shelves l4 and Hi to form the rear wall of compartment l5. A light source 20 is disposed in a cavity 22 in liner i2 and is adapted to be connected to a source of current upon opening of the cabinet door 24. The light source 20 is positioned and arranged so that light is distributed to the interior of compartments l3 and I5 as hereafter more fully explained. An evaporator 26 functions to cool the interior of the cabinet.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, food storage compartment i5 is formed by vertically spaced shelves l4 and I6 together with vertical bafile i8 positioned adjacent the rear edges of said shelves to contact the edges thereof. The shelves, which are preferably formed of a light conducting impervious material such as glass or a clear plastic. extend from side to side of inner liner l2 but are spaced from the rear wall of the liner to permit cold air from evaporator 26 to drop down into the lower regions of the cabinet. 'Baflle l8 together with the rear wall of inner liner l2 provides a passage 28 for transfer of both air and light rays to the upper and lower extremities of the cabinet.

The front of compartment l5 may be enclosed by means of glass doors (not shown) or may be sealed off by means of sealing gaskets 30 and 32 which cooperate with shelves 34 and 88 on the refrigerator door to prevent air from entering the compartmentwhen the door is closed.

As shown in Fig. 3, baiiie I8 is provided with a pair of windows 88 and 40 vertically spaced to abut the inner edges of shelves I4 and I8, respectively. The windows preferably extend horizontally in the baiile for substantially the length of the shelves. In one embodiment, baffle I8 is constructed of opaque material such as sheet metal and the windows are cut out of the battle. In the preferred embodiment, bailie i8 is formed of translucent material such as plastic or tinted glass. when formed of such material, the windows merely constitute clear portions in the baffle adapted to permit light rays to pass therethrough.

Compartment I5, being sealed off from normal airflow throughout the interior of the cabinet constitutes a high humidity or moist cold compartment particularly adapted to keep leafy vegetables in a fresh condition. Indicia such as "moist cold is inscribed on the shelves forming the top and bottom walls of compartment I5, and with the light bulb energized by conventional circuits operable upon opening of the cabinet door, the indicia is brightly illuminated to produce a unique effect. The indicia is preferably engraved in the shelves by etching or sand blasting so that light traveling through the shelves illuminates the indicia. It will be understood, of course, that with baiiie it formed of opaque material such as sheet metal, light enters compartment is through the windows in the baiiies, and travels through the shelves. At the-same time, the remainder of the interior of the cabinet is illuminated by indirectly reflected light rays traveling through passage 28.

By forming baiile i8 of tinted translucent material or painted glass a novel lighting effect is achieved in that a colored hue is imparted to the entire interior of the compartment. Particularly pleasing effects have been obtained by forming baifle I8 of a glass panel painted a pastel green having clear windows abutting the inner edge of the glass shelves. With this arrangement, a colored hue is imparted to the interior of compartment is and also to the indicia etched into the glass. Light rays entering the edge of each shelf and traveling through the shelves, cause the indicia to be brightly illuminated while at the same time a colored hue is imparted to the indicia. With this arrangement, the illumination creates a lighting effect which causes the entire moist cold compartment to appear to stand out separately and distinctly from the remainder of the refrigerator.

In Fig. 4 there is shown an alternative form of the invention in which the compartment i is positioned in the bottom of the refrigerator cabinet rather than in the upper portion thereof as shown in Fig. 1. In this embodiment, one wall of the compartment is formed by the single glass shelf ll, while the rear wall is formed by vertical baille i8. A passage 28 is provided intermediate baflle l8 and the rear wall of inner liner l2 so that light rays from light source 20 may enter the edge of shelf it through a window 38 in baiiie l8 abutting the edge of shelf is and may also be reflected through passage 28 into the remainder of the cabinet. Again, the battle may be formed of either opaque or tinted translucent material. Indicia such as moist cold is also provided on the shelf.

While no particular means is illustrated in the drawing for mounting the shelves and vertical indie in the cabinet, any suitable means may be provided for this purpose. One such means is to provide plastic rails positioned horizontally on the side walls of the inner liner to support the undersurface of the shelves and a. second pair of rails mounted vertically to the side walls of the inner liner to retain the baflie with the windows in abutment with the inner edges of the shelves, respectively.

It will be understood that the terminology window" as used in this specification and claims is intended to include both a cut-out space in the baille and a clear space in the haiiie for permitting light rays to enter the edges of the shelf through the baflie. It will also be understood that well 22 is so shaped as to include a portion adjacent the base of bulb 20 positioned to reflect light rays downwardly and a second portion opposite the base of the bulb positioned to reflect light rays upwardly into the passage 28. These light reflecting surfaces may be highly polished if desired so as to reflect the light rays through the passage into the upper and lower regions of the interior of the cabinet.

While my invention has been disclosed and described in two alternative embodiments thereof, it will readily be apparent that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope thereof as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A refrigerator comprising a liner forming top, bottom, side and rear walls of a food storage compartment, an evaporator for cooling said compartment, a second food storage compartment disposed within said first compartment, said second compartment including at least one horizontal shelf formed of light-conducting material and a vertically disposed opaque baifle extending parallel to one wall of said liner and disposed in abutting relation with one edge of said shelf, said vertical baiile being spaced from said last-mentioned wall and forming therewith a clear, unobstructed passageway for the passage of air, a recess in said liner opposite said vertical baiile, a light source in said recess for illuminating said passageway and said first-mentioned compartment, and a window in said vertical bailie adlacent one edge of said shelf for permitting light rays from said passageway to enter an edge of said shelf whereby said shelf and the interior of said second-mentioned food storage compartment are illuminated.

2. A refrigerator comprising a liner forming top, bottom, side and rear walls of a food storage compartment, an evaporator for cooling said compartment, a horizontally disposed light-conducting shelf extending from side-wall to sidewall of said liner and having the rear edge thereof spaced from said liner, a vertical baiile positioned rearwardly of said shelf extending from side-wall to side-wall of said liner and from said bottom wall upwardly to said shelf, the upper portion of said baille being in contact relation with the rear edge of said shelf, said shelf, baifle, and the bottom wall of said liner forming a second food storage compartment within said first compartment, said baifle and the rear wall of said liner forming a clear unobstructed passageway for the passage of air rearwardly of said secondmentioned food storage compartment, a light source positioned rearwardly of said passageway adapted to illuminate said passageway and said first-mentioned compartment, and a window in said bafie adjacent the rear edge of said shelf for permitting light rays from said passageway to enter the rear edge of said shelf whereby said shelf and the interior of said second-mentioned food storage compartment are illuminated.

3. A refrigerator comprising a liner forming a top, bottom, side and rear walls of a food storage compartment, an evaporator for cooling said compartment, a pair of vertically spaced horizontally disposed transparent shelves extending from side wall to side wall of said liner and spaced from the rear wall thereof, a vertical baflie extending between said side walls disposed in abut= ting relation with the rear edge of each of said shelves and forming with said shelves a second food storage compartment within said first-mentioned compartment, said vertically disposed baffle being spaced inwardly from said rear wall and forming therewith a clear unobstructed passage extending from side-wall to side-wall of said liner for the passage of air rearwardly of said second-mentioned compartment, a recess in said liner rearwardly of said passage, a light source in said recess for directing light rays into 2,442,921 Brake whereby the interior of said second-mentioned food storage compartment is illuminated.

A RALPH L. BENSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this Patent:

= .w s'ra'rns PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 22,735 Jes Mar. 26, W46

' 1,839,287 Wolfson i... Jan. o, 1932 1,87%,24i5 Corrigan Aug. 30, 1932 2,209,869 Yoiisimei' July 30, 1940 2,308,126 Ewanson et al... New. Jan, 119, was

mmwmmmm June a, me a 

